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Black and white aerial photo of Willamette's campus in 1949, with Sweetland Field in the center.

Sweetland Field & McCulloch Stadium

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Written by Alex Sims, Class of 2025

The area known as the Quad was once home to the campus athletic field. In 1912, the athletic field was named Sweetland Field in honor of Dr. G. J. Sweetland, Jr, the university athletic director from 1909-1914.1

Dr. Sweetland transformed the athletic field into a usable athletic space, improving the field’s condition and building the first bleachers. In 1914, Dr. Sweetland was stated to have “done wonders” and “put Willamette on the map in every branch of athletics, particularly football”.2 

Sweetland Field was home to football games, athletic classes, pushball games, greased pole contests, sack races, barbecues, and many other events. The field had a quarter-mile track, baseball diamond, football gridiron, and tennis courts. With the addition of a new grandstand, two in total, and field bleachers the area could seat 5,600 people.3 

Sweetland Field served campus athletics well but it also had drawbacks. As put by Dean Robert Gregg, Sweetland Field was “less than desirable. It was a sea of mud for six or eight months, including the football season, and a ‘dust bowl’ during the dry season. The old wooden stands leaked and were drafty. Valuable land in the path of campus expansion was at stake.”4

McCulloch Stadium

In 1946 Willamette University acquired 10 acres of land for a new athletic plant. This acquisition was part of larger negotiations between the Bush Family and the City of Salem. The City purchased 90 acres of Bush pasture for $150,000 and transformed it into a city park. The University paid the city the agreed upon $25,000 for its portion, choosing a location on Mission Street facing the Oregon State School for the Blind, now the Salem Health Hospital Campus.5 

The transformation of the property into a usable athletic space took several years. The first step was the installation of a drainage system, leveling, and grading of the field. Next, the construction of the large oval-shaped cinder track began, made from a trench measuring 254 feet wide and 440 yards long. Then topsoil was spread and the ground was seeded for turf. The final step was fencing in the newly turfed areas. The new athletic plant included a track, football field, stadium, two baseball diamonds, and tennis courts. On April 1, 1949, an inaugural double header baseball game was played on the newly completed Bush Baseball Diamond. In May 1949 the first track meet was held on the new track.6

Construction of the stadium, which would seat 3,500 people, began in March of 1950 and was completed in October. The stadium was named the Charles E. McCulloch Stadium after the chairman of the Board of Trustees and the principal donor for the stadium project.7 On October 14, 1950, the dedication for the new complex was held at the homecoming football game between Willamette University and the University of Hawaii.8

In 1994, McCullock Stadium underwent a $1.2 million renovation.9 In October of the year, the new field was dedicated to Ted Ogdahl, Willamette’s football coach from 1952-1971, the McCulloch Stadium was re-dedicated, and the new Jeff Knox Memorial Locker Room was dedicated in honor of the former Willamette athlete .10 

After McCulloch Stadium was complete, Sweetland Field started to transform. In 1951 both of the grandstands were deconstructed and the lumber from the north grandstand was used to build a warehouse behind the gymnasium. Part of the lumber and the stadium lights were sold to a high school in Jefferson, Oregon.11  In October of 1952 work was done to level the field, cover it in dirt, and seed it with grass.  In 1953 the Board of Trustees approved the first set of buildings as part of a larger $5 million Willamette Development Program. The buildings included the Fine Arts and Auditorium building, Doney Hall, and the health center. The buildings would be built where the field previously was forming a quadrangle around a smaller section of grass. By 1955 Sweetland Field had completely transformed into the Quad as it is known today.

Written Summer 2024

Endnotes

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  1. ˆ “Students Votes Decides Name.” Willamette Collegian, 15 Dec 1915, page 1.
  2. ˆ“Willamette to Lose Services of Sweetland; Expert Athletic Tutor Accepts Position at Hobart College.” Willamette Collegian, 18 Feb 1914.
  3. ˆ“Educational Facilities.” Willamette University Catalog, 19.
  4. ˆWillingham, William F. Collegiate Architecture and Landscapes in the West: Willamette University 1842-2012. Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University, 2019., p. 17.
  5. ˆ “City Council Orders Transfer Of Ten Acres of Pasture to WU.” Willamette Collegian, 9 May 1946, 1.
  6. ˆProgress on the athletic field project was tracked in the Willamette Collegian and Alumnus. See “WU Granted Pasture Deed; Work to Start on Site Soon.” Willamette Collegian, 16 May 1946, 8.; “Bush Athletic Field Readied; Blueprints Reveal ‘New Look’.” Willamette Collegian, 19 March 1948, 5.; “Bush’s Pasture Athletic Field, Leveling, Grading Complete.” The Willamette University Alumnus, 1 Jan 1947, 4.; “Cats Trek to L&C Tomorrow; Drop Bush Inaugural to PU.” Willamette Collegian, 6 May 1949, 4.; Reynolds, Dale. “Track Construction Under Way.” Willamette Collegian, 18 March 1949, 5.; “New Track Work Begun.” Willamette Collegian, 18 July 1947, 2.; Williams, Johnny. “Double Header Initiates New Bush Diamond.” Willamette Collegian, 1 April 1949.
  7. ˆ “One Unit of New Stadium To Be Completed Before Fall.” Willamette Collegian, 3 March 1950, 1.
  8. ˆ McCulloch Stadium dedication program, 1950 October 14, Box: 3, Folder: 52. Willamette University Facilities Management records, WUA130. Willamette University Archives and Special Collections.
  9. ˆ “Willamette University.” Willamette University Catalog, Salem, 9.
  10. ˆ It’s In Their Blood: Oregon Football Coaches and Their Legacies by Robert Gill, 1999, Subseries A, Box: 1, Folder: 42. Willamette University Athletics Department records, WUA056. Willamette University Archives and Special Collections. “The Past Mixes With The Present.”  The Scene, 1 Jan
    1994.
  11. ˆ “Fenix Slate Repairs.” Willamette Collegian, 1 June 1951, 2.

Works Referenced

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Image Citations

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